1UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO Department of Economics Economics 4999-011: Health Economics, Fall 2009 Professor Tania Barham Office: Economics 14C (in the McGuire Center, basement of Econ) Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 11:00-noon in Economics 14C Course Website: http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/hb/barham/courses/econ4999/ Course Description Health economics is a growing field and is an important aspect of public policy in developed and developing countries. The purpose of this course is to encourage students to read, think, and do research on issues in health economics. This course will cover issues that are pertinent to the US, other developed countries and developing countries. In order to help ready students for their working careers, students will be asked to use and improve their research and communication skills (writing and speaking) as well as their ability to work in groups. These skills will be developed while they learn about topics in health economics. Course Organization This course will comprise three parts. Part 1 will cover about a third of the time. During this time I will lecture on some of the basic concepts that underpin Health Economics. During part 2 of the course, which will last approximately 5 weeks, you will work on your research and presentation skills by doing a group paper and lecture. Finally, for part 3 you will write 3 short research papers on the health care system of a country and give a presentation. Prerequisites While there are no official course pre-requisites, students will be expected to be comfortable with the material from introductory and intermediate microeconomics or willing to put in some extra time to learn the material necessary. Some familiarity with calculus will be helpful for comprehending some of the reading material but is not required. An exposure to regression analysis will also be useful for understanding the material but is not required. Students who are unsure about their preparation for the course should speak with me. Textbook & Reading There is no required text for this course. Your readings are on the course website. They are password protected. I will be providing you with the user name and password in class. Evaluation Evaluation for this course will be based on a mid-term exam, individual project and group project. There will be no make-up exam so make sure you are there. The projects are described at the end of the course outline. Written projects are due in class unless otherwise indicated below. There will be severe penalty for late projects: you will lose a full grade level for each day beyond the due date (i.e. an “A” paper that is2handed in a day late will receive a “B”). Note I count the first day late to be after class on the day it is due. PROJECT DUE DATE PERCENTAGES Mid-Term Exam 30 % Individual Project 30 % Country Choice August 31st decided in class Stage 1 Sept 9 due in class 6 Stage 2 Sept 23 due in class 6 Stage 3 Oct 19 copy in mail box and send an electronic copy 8 Oral Presentation 10 Group Project 20% Group paper 2 days before oral presentation-send to me by email 10 Oral Presentations TBD 10 Participation 20 % Group Participation 8 Class Participation 12 Participation Points and Attendance Group Participation Points (worth 8 percent of your entire grade) To prevent free riding, each member of a group will be asked to grade the effort of the other group members. After you have finished your group lecture I will ask you each to email me participation grades from each of your group members so it is anonymous. These grades are then mixed in with my grades for participation making it difficult for your group members to know what score you gave. Other Class Participation Points These are gained throughout the class and a worth a total of 12 percent of your grade. 5 percent will be given during the group presentations. You must prepare two questions for each lecture and hand the questions into me at the beginning of class. You can use the group paper to develop your questions. You will be awarded participation points for handing in your questions. You will receive 0 points if you are not at class. You will receive 1 point for being at class but not handing in any questions, you will receive 1 points for handing in 2 relevant questions and you will receive 3 points for handing in 2 relevant questions. If you miss more than one class during the group presentations you will get a zero for the participation points for this section. You must sign the sign-in sheet to be counted as present. 4 percent will be given during the individual presentations. If you miss more than one class during the individual presentations you will get a zero for the participation points for this section. You must sign the sign-in sheet to be counted as present. 3 percent I assign based on who has asked questions and actively participated in the class throughout the year.3Tentative Schedule WEEK DATE TOPIC Tuesday Thursday 1 Aug 24, 26 Syllabus Review and Introduction Research Methods 2 Aug. 31 Sept 2 Health Production Functions Demand for Health Care Health Production Functions Demand for Health Care 3 Sept 7, 9 Labor Day no class Health and Economic Development 4 Sept 14, 16 Equity, Efficiency and Need Rational for Government Intervention 5 Sept 21, 23 Health Insurance Health Insurance 6 Sept 28, 30 Health Insurance Health Insurance 7 Oct 5, 7 Health Sector Reform Health Sector Reform 8 Oct 12, 14 MID-TERM EXAM Groups Professor in classroom 9 Oct 19, 21 Groups meet with Professor in classroom To be determined 10 Oct 26, 28 Group Lecture Group Lecture 11 Nov 2, 4 Group Lecture Group Lecture 12 Nov 9, 11 Group Lecture Group Lecture 13 Nov 16, 18 Individual presentations Individual presentations 14 Nov 23, 25 FALL BREAK 15 Nov 30, Dec 2 Individual presentations Individual presentations 16 Dec 7, 9 Individual presentations Individual presentations4Group Project The objective of this project is to research a particular topic in health economics. You will form groups of approximately 4 people. There are some topics which are developing country focused and others that are developed country focused. Your research output will take the form of a group paper (to be made available to students 2 days before you lecture) and a group lecture – your group will teach a